Power15 for an FF… worth it?

Hello Benji,

Welcome to the forum and Ferrari and FF ownership. If you really do only plan to keep the car for a couple of years then you might consider taking the warranty but it’s marginal. Two years of warranty payments will cover the most likely big bills so you’d have to be really unlucky to be saddled with a PTU and DCT problem in each of the two years. Anything else which fails is not likely to be covered.

However, the trouble is that Ferraris and FFs get under your skin so you might end up keeping it a lot longer than two years in which case you should definitely self insure.

 

Definitely get the warranty. If you are only going to have the car for a year it would be a shame to spend $20K to $40K on a new PTU. You will take a bath when you sell it.

I'm on my 4th year of my FF and self insure, so I'm way ahead of the game if I have a PTU failure. I see you are in Boston. Our dealer, FNE, will charge you $8700 per year, plus at least $400 a year for inspection. So at this point I would have spent at least $36,400 for the warranty.

And as ANOpax said, most other problems would not be covered. I had a PTU oil line burst and corroded brake lines. Repair cost was $7200 and neither item would have been covered by the Power Warranty even if I had it.

 

You are being way overcharged for the warranty. If those lines were rubber than few warranties cover hoses I would think. Insurance is about peace of mind. If you have the latter you don't need the former. Really more to do about the person than the car.

 

No kidding. A dealer in Texas quoted me almost half that price. Unfortunately I'd either have to drive or transport the car to Dallas for the inspection.

You are so right. Even if in the 1st year of ownership if I had to pay $40K for a new PTU, I definitely wouldn't be happy, but it wouldn't impact my lifestyle. However, if it impacted a buyer's ability to support his family, then the warranty is what he should purchase.

They (manufacturers/retailers) are always trying to encourage the buyer to get an extended warranty on anything you buy. Unless a person is strapped financially, it's the worse thing you can waste your money on. They're not selling you insurance because they are losing money on it.

 

I don't have an FF so no PTU issue, but when my F12's power warranty was up for renewal I decided to pass. I was quoted something like $8700, PLUS the inspection fee. For a car the dealer had previously serviced and was still under the prior's year's warranty. Of everything I needed to do to the car (brake light switch, leaking valve covers, new Becker NIT, shrinking leather, etc) absolutely nothing was covered by the warranty. At $5k maybe it is interesting, but at about $10k, no way.

 

It does not cost $40k to repair a PTU, unless you just drop the car off at a Ferrari dealer and tell them to take all your money and just fix it. Realistically a PTU rebuild is $10k, plus install labor from an independent shop.

I did not get the power warranty on my FF when it was offered to me at $6k per year. Handing over all that cash up front for a 10-15% risk doesn't make any sense to me. FYI I have not had PTU issues.

 

I'm torn between Paul and Richel because both of you guys have valid points; I'm 3rd owner 2012 FF w/23.4k miles, and have held for 2 years now, debating to go another year for $6990 factory PTU warranty, I think, (around that much) for peace of mind, exactly. See that whole other thread a bunch of us have watching PTU Failure etc, and I'm in the camp of it's not a question of if, but when that little retaining circlip on the shift-fork fails... And saw that GTE had one ready-to-ship for $11,000, in stock nearly now, and the other teams who had this covered thru Peakes in the UK. So yeah, I'm coming up 25April for another year of Factory Insurance, and trying to convince myself to just go Full 15 and eat factory insurance for another year just for provenance sake. But then again, on second thought, I'd be just as happy to let-it-ride and do the swap when it fails. First world problems, I absolutely love mine and hope to keep it forever. (Rubino Micalizzato / Cuoio). But Benji, welcome, and please be mindful when you start flipping the manettino. Its a whole different ballgame up there. Enjoy.

 

Peter, since you intend to keep the car long term, I would think you would be best off to self-insure. If you get the Power Warranty and you have a failure, Ferrari will replace/repair it with the same faulty parts. You would be in a position to keep buying the warranty.

From what I have read the rebuilt ones by third parties have better re-engineered parts. I guess time will tell if this leads to better longevity. At least the repair is much cheaper.

 

I bought my 2014 FF last August. It had done 2000 miles in the previous 24 months. My thought process was as follows.

I'd bought this with the intention to use it (6000 miles in 7 months so far) so I figured if anything was going to wrong in a big way it was likely to happen as the car got "shocked" with it's new found use. So I thought for year one I'll buy the Power15 warranty (GBP3,960).

Week one oil cooler split, rear fog light failed. GBP 3000 + labour - covered under warranty

Month 4 all direction indicators on the left side of vehicle failed - 4 hours diagnostics, failed ECU diagnosed, 6 hours labour to replace + ECU - covered under warranty.

So in year one the warranty at least covered itself (and some). Long term though I'm on the fence. The main reason I wanted the warranty is for the PTU, but now there's a better "permanent" after market fix for GBP10K fitted I'd be inclined to go that route.

It will probably come down to my appetatie for risk when I arrive in August at it's renewal date. My personal experince of the warranty is it has so far covered every issue I've had, but many others have not had the favourable experience I have.

 

Yeah, Paul, Alan, thanks again -- and the other guys who have been on that PTU thread (who have watched the hollywood guy youtube PTU rebuild and read that whole other thread about the circlip pins)
It just shows how lower miles, lower use just get stale around now (for 2012-2014) hoses, belts, corroded connections, etc... but if you've got a historical relationship with your dealer (some of us do) then they know you, they book it, they fix it.
Provenance for 15-years...still a factor in my case given I'm still in that window.
For Alan's sake...I'm considering another Factory Issued $7k for 2023-2024 season.
Just for peace-of-mind.